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Zorro (1957)
Zorro is an American action-adventure western series produced by Walt Disney Productions. Based on the Zorro character created by Johnston McCulley, the series premiered on October 10, 1957 on ABC. The final network broadcast was July 2, 1959. Seventy-eight episodes were produced, and 4 hour-long specials were aired on the Walt Disney anthology series between October 30, 1960 and April 2, 1961. Plot summary For most of its brief run, Zorro's episodes were part of continuing story arcs, each about thirteen episodes long, which made it almost like a serial. The first of these chronicles the arrival of Zorro / Diego to California in 1820 and his battle with the greedy and cruel local Commandante, Captain Enrique Sánchez Monastario. After Monastario's final defeat, in the second storyline, Zorro must uncover and counter the machinations of the evil Magistrado Carlos Galindo, who is part of a plot to rule California. The third story arc concerns the leader of that conspiracy, the shadowy figure of "The Eagle," revealed as vain and insecure José Sebastián de Varga. It's revealed that the plot to gain control of California is so that he can turn it over to another country, implied to be Russia, for a huge profit. Season one concludes with Varga's death. Season two opens with Diego in Monterey, the colonial capital, where privately collected money to bring a supply ship to California is consistently diverted to a gang of bandits. Diego stays to investigate, both as himself and as Zorro, and becomes interested in Ana Maria Verdugo, the daughter of the man organizing the effort. Once Zorro defeats the thieves, he enters into a rivalry with his old friend Ricardo del Amo, a practical joker who is also interested in Ana Maria. Ana Maria in turn is in love with Zorro. While in Monterey, Zorro and Sergeant Demetrio López García also get involved in a dispute between the people and a repressive Lieutenant Governor. Diego is on the verge of giving up his mask to marry Ana Maria, but Don Alejandro talks him out of it. Zorro (and Diego) says goodbye to Ana Maria and returns to Los Angeles, where he gets involved in a series of shorter adventures. In one three episode story arc, guest starring Annette Funicello, Zorro must solve the mystery of Anita Cabrillo's father, a man who does not seem to exist. Other storylines late in the series involve Diego's never-do-well uncle (Cesar Romero), a plot against the governor of California, an encounter with an American "mountain man" (Jeff York, reprising a role from The Saga of Andy Burnett), and outwitting a greedy emissary from Spain. Main characters *Don Diego de la Vega (portrayed by Guy Williams) is depicted as a former university student, newly recalled by his father, Don Alejandro de la Vega, from Madrid to his home outside El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora Reina de los Angeles sobre El Rio Porciuncula (later shortened as Los Angeles). Just before reaching California, Diego learns of the tyranny of Captain Monastario, and realizes that his father, Don Alejandro, summoned him to help fight this injustice. Although he won medals for his fencing back in Spain, Diego decides that his best course of action is to conceal his ability with a sword, and to affect the demeanor of a milquetoast intellectual rather than a decisive man of action. His alter ego, Zorro operates primarily at night, taking the direct action that Diego cannot. This deception does not always sit well with Diego, especially as it affects his relationship with his disappointed father. In reality, Diego relies heavily on his wits, both with and without the mask on. Later in the series, Diego emerges as a respected figure in his own right, a clever thinker and loyal friend who just happens to be hopeless at swordplay. The character's name in Johnston McCulley's writing and previous adaptations was Diego Vega; the Disney version expands the name to Diego de la Vega, an innovation retained in some subsequent versions of the story. Diego's singing voice is supplied by Bill Lee of The Mellomen. *Don Alejandro de la Vega (portrayed by George J. Lewis) Don Diego's father and a hot-tempered cattle baron (or ranchero) with a strong sense of morality and fair play. His cattle and land holdings are said to be among the richest in California, which helps to make Don Alejandro an influential community leader. His impetuous nature often gets him into trouble, however, as he seeks to do battle himself, sometimes getting fooled and manipulated along the way. Don Alejandro eventually learns of his son's identity, and is strongly in favor of Zorro's work continuing. *Bernardo (portrayed by pantomimist Gene Sheldon) is Diego's manservant, confidant and co-conspirator, the only person at first to know Diego's secret. Unable to speak, Bernardo uses sign language to communicate. He pretends to be deaf as well as mute, the better to overhear the plans of Zorro's enemies. He also plays the fool, adopting clownish behavior so as to seem harmless. Although Bernardo is sometimes portrayed as a little silly even when no pretense is required, he is also a capable and invaluable disciple for Zorro and Diego, even wearing the mask himself occasionally when the need arises. The character had appeared in the original stories as both deaf and mute; giving him hearing in this iteration helped to make Bernardo more integral to the series as Zorro's secret agent. It also helped to advance the plot by giving Diego a partner with whom he could confide feelings, plans, and intended actions, while also communicating these things to the viewers. *Sergeant Demetrio Lopez Garcia2 (portrayed by Henry Calvin) is fat, superstitious, and overfond of drink, but also kind-hearted, brave and loyal. Sergeant García believes that he must obey orders from his commanding officers, however cruel or unjust they may be. He tries to soften the blow with his friendly manner, often saying "Please?" as he issues an unpalatable order to a civilian. Although García seldom departs from his sworn duty, he develops considerable respect for Zorro and later in the series is openly glad when Zorro escapes capture. Nevertheless, García dreams of catching Zorro himself to collect the reward money, a dream that Diego encourages from time to time. He also has an excellent singing voice, and performs a number of songs over the course of the series, usually with mug in hand. García replaces McCulley's Sergeant Gonzales from the original stories, played by Noah Beery, Sr. as a hardcore villain in the 1920 film version. Other recurring cast *Don Diamond as Corporal Reyes (Magistrado storyline and onward) – The second non-commissioned officer alongside Sergeant García, introduced midway through Season 1, who became Sergeant Garcia's sidekick after the arrest of Monastario. He also appeared uncredited (and with no mustache) as Lancer Yvarro in an earlier episode, "Zorro's Ride Into Terror" *Britt Lomond as Captain Enrique Sánchez Monastario (season 1) – The evil but dashing Commandante was Zorro's first continuing foe, both on screen and at Disneyland (see "Other appearances" below). He auditioned for the Zorro role and after Williams was chosen Lomond became the ideal candidate for the villain due to his fencing abilities. *Than Wyenn as Licenciado Piña (season 1) – Monastario's adjutant and lawyer. At the time of Wyenn's death in 2015 he was the last surviving member of the first 13 episodes main cast (not counting guest stars). *Jan Arvan as Don Ignacio Torres (season 1) – A local don who is arrested by Monastario for speaking out. Often known as 'Don Nacho'. *Romney Brent as Padre Felipe (season 1) – A priest at the Mission of San Gabriel and a friend to Diego. He provides Church sanctuary to Torres before he escapes to Monterey. *Henry Rowland as Count Kolinko (season 1) – Varga's conspirator. *Vinton Hayworth as Magistrate Carlos Galindo (season 1) – The local leader of a conspiracy to take over California. *Jay Novello as Juan Greco (season 1) – Vargas's conspirator. *Charles Korvin as José Sebastián de Varga (season 1) – The man Galindo was working for, self-styled "the Eagle". *Steve Stevens as Don Rodolfo (season 1) – One of the local dons, who vacillates on his commitment to help defend Los Angeles from the conspirators. *Jolene Brand as Ana María Verdugo (season 2) – A love interest for Diego and Zorro, based in Monterey. *Eduard Franz as Señor Gregorio Verdugo (season 2) – Ana Maria's father, leader of a group trying to finance bringing a supply ship to California. *Richard Anderson as Ricardo del Amo (season 2) – Diego's old friend and rival who is also courting Ana Maria. *Cesar Romero as Esteban de la Cruz (season 2) – Diego's uncle, an aging gigolo with a dishonest streak and a propensity for trouble. *Rodolfo Hoyos, Jr., as Vivera in "El Bandido" and "Adios, El Cuchillo" (season 2) and as Montez in "Finders Keepers" (season 1) *Annette Funicello as Anita Cabrillo (season 2) – A young woman who comes to Los Angeles to see her father, except that nobody has ever heard of him; Funicello was given the role as a birthday present from Walt Disney himself since he was the only one who knew about her big crush on Guy Williams. Though, Guy was married to Janice Cooper. Funicello was also on the 1-hour episode The Postponed Wedding where she played Constancia de la Torre, a girl who is scheduled to be married. *Everett Sloane as Andrés Felipe Basilio (season 2) – Another of Zorro's foes, a greedy official who gathers treasure for Spain but seeks to keep it for himself. *John Litel as Governor of California (season 2) – Honest but petulant, the governor is the subject of two conspiracies against him, and Diego's house guest at the time. *Rodolfo Acosta as Perico Verdugo (season 1) – A prospector confederate with the Magistrate to investigate if indeed there is gold in California. *Eugenia Paul as Elena Torres3 *Suzanne Lloyd as Raquel Toledano, the wife of Captain Arturo Toledano (played by Peter Adams) a Commandante who is unaware of her collaboration with "the Eagle". Lloyd also appears in an unrelated role in Zorro: Auld Acquaintance as a guest at the de la Vega's hacienda. *Jonathan Harris as Carlos Fernandez (season 2) - Harris later co-starred with Williams on Lost in Space. *Tony Russel (billed as Tony Russo) as Carlos Martinez, a man Monastario employs to disguise as Zorro and commit a robbery in order to give Zorro a bad name. Russel also played Pedro Avila a character who challenges Diego and Don Alejandro to duel in "An Affair Of Honor", an episode of Season 2. Russel initially auditioned for the Zorro role, as did Britt Lomond. *Fred Cavens was the Fencing Consultant of the series and appeared uncredited in various episodes, as did his son Albert Cavens, who also stunt-doubled for some of the guest actors in the fencing scenes. Episodes Main article: List of Zorro episodes (1957 series) When Zorro aired on Boomerang after Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends and its reruns, all of the episodes are shown in Black and White. 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